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Tracking the French drought

Page 5 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Aug 22, 2017
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Re:

Ricco' said:
What about Madouas? What can we expect from him?

Very strong start of season for a neo-pro.

He seems to be an all rounder at the moment. He can climb (15t in the last tour de l'avenir, 16th in Le tour de Savoie Mont Blanc), sprint, and makes some good prologue or short ITT.

But I think it's best prospect is on the Ardennes races. He won the 2016 U-23 french championship in front of Gaudu on a Ardennes type profil, which was won by Vichot in the Elite race. He is very good on short climb (2'-10' effort).

It's a talent for sure but it's hard for sure to know how these all rounders are going to develop themselves in the future. He looks like like Gallopin, I said.
 
Alex, take some medicine, or 5-6 Armagnacs and stop being so negative, for Pete's sake! Jalaphilippe won the FW, Pinot is doing well (thank you very much :p ), the Giro is looking good. we have some depth and young riders like Gaudu. Heck, if Bardet could ITT, he would have won last year's TdF instead of saving a podium for .87 of a second.

Young riders: Gaudu, mentored by good-guy Pinot is like Mahomes mentored by Alex Smith. Go Chiefs! David will thrive, win, and win big. Jalaphilippe has 5-8 years of being a factor. Demare is still young. Madouas? Could be good. Hivert? Calmejane? Cosnefroy?

Have no fear my friend...French kids can run bikes. And on a personal level, just stop trolling on Pinot, like I just did on Bardet, who can't ITT around his own block :p ....
 
Bardet most definitely needs to learn how to ride an ITT. I agree with Tonton that if he could have done a decent ITT he'd have won the TdF last year and would have been on the podium in 2014.
Alaphilippe has proven over the last couple of years that he can win stages and do very well in the Ardennes. He's never going to win a GT (He's said he wants to be a classics rider).
 
Tonton said:
Alex, take some medicine, or 5-6 Armagnacs and stop being so negative, for Pete's sake! Jalaphilippe won the FW, Pinot is doing well (thank you very much :p ), the Giro is looking good. we have some depth and young riders like Gaudu. Heck, if Bardet could ITT, he would have won last year's TdF instead of saving a podium for .87 of a second.

Young riders: Gaudu, mentored by good-guy Pinot is like Mahomes mentored by Alex Smith. Go Chiefs! David will thrive, win, and win big. Jalaphilippe has 5-8 years of being a factor. Demare is still young. Madouas? Could be good. Hivert? Calmejane? Cosnefroy?

Have no fear my friend...French kids can run bikes. And on a personal level, just stop trolling on Pinot, like I just did on Bardet, who can't ITT around his own block :p ....

Hivert? As in the 33-year-old Jonathan Hivert?
I wouldn't call him a guy for the future...
 
Re:

Alexandre B. said:
Will successful french riders from french teams ever win something big again apart for stage wins?

I don't give a damn about the guy who ride for Lefevere.
Don't be so grouchy Alexandre :) . Today was a little disappointing, but not a fiasco. When our team lit it up, they shattered the field...it's been a while since we saw that, if ever. We have guys who can win big...
 
Yay, another twentieth century cobweb is cleared.
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Re: Re:

Tonton said:
RedheadDane said:
To be fair, that was their shortest period of wait between two wins in that particular race.
In '97, Jaja went on to win the GDL as well...wouldn't it be nice (Beach Boys music playing in the background).

Spoiler: It is nice!

Hot take: After the season both Bardet and Pinot had, I would like to see both of them put Grand Tour wins on the back burner and focus on one day races for a year or two.
 
For all my whiny comments about this great generation of riders lacking big wins, that was a great season.

1st in Il Lombardia, Flèche Wallonne, Clasica San Sebastian, Milano-Torino.
2nd in World Championships, Strade Bianche.
3rd in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Milano-Sanremo, Gent-Wevelgem, Volta a Catalanya.

Tour of the Alps is also nice, as are stages in Grands Tours.

When I started to follow the sport, the biggest achievement we could afford was winning a stage in the Tour de France.
 
Re:

Alexandre B. said:
For all my whiny comments about this great generation of riders lacking big wins, that was a great season.

1st in Il Lombardia, Flèche Wallonne, Clasica San Sebastian, Milano-Torino.
2nd in World Championships, Strade Bianche.
3rd in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Milano-Sanremo, Gent-Wevelgem, Volta a Catalanya.

Tour of the Alps is also nice, as are stages in Grands Tours.

When I started to follow the sport, the biggest achievement we could afford was winning a stage in the Tour de France.
We're back on top of the World Alexandre! :)
 
Re: Re:

Tonton said:
Alexandre B. said:
For all my whiny comments about this great generation of riders lacking big wins, that was a great season.

1st in Il Lombardia, Flèche Wallonne, Clasica San Sebastian, Milano-Torino.
2nd in World Championships, Strade Bianche.
3rd in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Milano-Sanremo, Gent-Wevelgem, Volta a Catalanya.

Tour of the Alps is also nice, as are stages in Grands Tours.

When I started to follow the sport, the biggest achievement we could afford was winning a stage in the Tour de France.
We're back on top of the World Alexandre! :)
When I think of it, it's insane that a rider like Bardet whose results are very good (2nd in World Championships, 2nd in Strade Bianche, 3rd in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, 6th in Tour de France) is the third best french this season.
 
Re: Re:

Alexandre B. said:
Tonton said:
Alexandre B. said:
For all my whiny comments about this great generation of riders lacking big wins, that was a great season.

1st in Il Lombardia, Flèche Wallonne, Clasica San Sebastian, Milano-Torino.
2nd in World Championships, Strade Bianche.
3rd in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Milano-Sanremo, Gent-Wevelgem, Volta a Catalanya.

Tour of the Alps is also nice, as are stages in Grands Tours.

When I started to follow the sport, the biggest achievement we could afford was winning a stage in the Tour de France.
We're back on top of the World Alexandre! :)
When I think of it, it's insane that a rider like Bardet whose results are very good (2nd in World Championships, 2nd in Strade Bianche, 3rd in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, 6th in Tour de France) is the third best french this season.
Julian, Thibaut and Bardet, thats a nice trio. And in that order I suppose.

If Bardet had won WC tho, would he be first?
 
Re:

Zinoviev Letter said:
No way is Bardet number three this year. He won the Classic Sud Ardèche. Demare won a Tour stage, a PN stage, a Suisse stage etc.

This year it’s Pinot, just ahead of Alaphilippe, Demare a distant third. Bardet probably fourth. Nice placings don’t beat nice wins.

So, Sam Bennet had a better year than Dumoulin?
 
Re: Re:

rghysens said:
Zinoviev Letter said:
No way is Bardet number three this year. He won the Classic Sud Ardèche. Demare won a Tour stage, a PN stage, a Suisse stage etc.

This year it’s Pinot, just ahead of Alaphilippe, Demare a distant third. Bardet probably fourth. Nice placings don’t beat nice wins.

So, Sam Bennet had a better year than Dumoulin?

No, of course not. Dumoulin won two GT stages and his second places included the best “non wins” you can get in the sport, so even though he missed all his major goals even in his failures he made it clear that his upper limits are even higher than thought. While the wins he picked up as consolation are pretty big anyway.

Dumoulin had a better season than Bennett, Démare or Bardet. But both Bennett and Démare added significantly to their palmares, Bardet did not. Both had a better year. This isn’t track and field, it’s a sport primarily about winning not about minor places. For good losses to significantly move one rider against others, the losses either have to be as good as it is possible to be (like nearly getting a Tour Giro double) or have to belong to a rider who also took big wins. Simon Yates had a better season than Dumoulin, for example.

I’m not biased in favour of Demare over Bardet. I much prefer Bardet as a rider. I’m biased in favour of wins. I don’t see how anyone can prefer a tiny one day race and some good losses to a Tour stage plus other WT stages plus some little stuff. Valverde’s WC win is worth a multiple of all his podiums in that race put together. His podiums are just a tie breaker when comparing him to other one time WCRR winners.
 

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